Bogus tenant stole my ID and £207,000

WHEN he gave up his job as a teacher to do charity work abroad, Grahame Hawthorn rented out his house to fund the move.

But what appeared to be the perfect self-financing scheme turned into a nightmare after he fell victim to an audacious identity theft.

A bogus tenant used a false driving licence and some stolen utility bills to remortgage Mr Hawthorn's home for more than £200,000, less than a week after signing the tenancy.

He fled with the money without making any repayments or even spending a night in the house and the lender then repossessed the three-bedroom terrace in Brighton and changed the locks.

The first Mr Hawthorn knew of the affair was when his managing agent told him the locks on his home had been changed and there was a possession order pinned to the door.

Adrian Hawthorn, who is looking after the property while his brother trains teachers in South-East Asia, said: 'It is astonishing that it was so easy for someone to do this. We were in total shock.'

He pleaded with lenders GMAC-RFC that his brother was a victim not a criminal and it has now cancelled the debt and handed back the keys.

But Mr Hawthorn, 52, who works in insurance, said: 'If Grahame had lost his home it would have ruined his life. He is out in Laos trying to help people and this is the way he was funding it.'

Grahame Hawthorn, 55, left his job in 1998 to work in a teacher training college in Pakse, Laos. Using a local estate agent, he rented out his mortgage-free home in Brighton and used the money to pay for his expenses and flights back to the UK.

For several years the arrangement worked well. But last April, a new tenant calling himself Andrew Manning moved in. He paid six months' rent in advance and a £1,200 deposit, claiming the house was for his sister who was studying at Sussex University.

Neither Manning, nor his sister, spent a night at the property but he did visit it to pick up utility bills in Mr Hawthorn's name.

Within a week of signing the contract, he applied to the Cheltenham & Gloucester for a £294,000 mortgage on the house, using Mr Hawthorn's stolen identity, and claiming to earn £120,000 a year.

That application was refused but a separate one for £207,000 was approved by mortgage company GMAC-RFC - despite Manning spelling both Mr Hawthorn's names wrongly on the form.

Brokers at Cheltenham & Gloucester were suspicious of the man, who was black and in his 30s while Mr Hawthorn is white and in his 50s, and alerted Adrian Hawthorn to their fears of an identity theft. When Adrian Hawthorn found that GMAC-RFC had loaned the money, he contacted the company immediately.

'I wrote to them five times to say something was wrong but nothing happened,' he said. 'They basically ignored me. I told the police but they said they had more than 200 cases to deal with and didn't seem too interested in taking on another one.

'It was only when the managing agent found the locks had been changed and a possession order pinned to the door that it sunk in what had happened. Grahame was in shock when I told him.'

Using the same documentation he used to obtain the mortgage, Manning had opened a bank account. The £207,495 was paid into the account. Manning then withdrew the money from the false account in the form of a banker's draft. These can be used for large purchases or deposited in another account abroad. The bank guarantees payment.

After discussion with the lender, the house has been handed back and an investigation into the fraud has begun.

In a statement GMAC-RFC said: 'GMAC believes it has investigated a complex matter as quickly as possible and acted swiftly to resolve the issue. Once this was done GMAC was able to hand possession of the property back.

'We have all been victims of a sophisticated fraudster. GMAC has shared and understood the brothers' frustration during this stressful time.' Paddy Rea, of West Sussex Police, said officers were investigating Mr Hawthorn's case.